Michael Graff

About

Writer, editor, storyteller, communicator based in Charlotte, North Carolina. Founder of The Charlotte Optimist, to launch in spring 2025.Most recently I was the Southern bureau chief for Axios Local, overseeing a team of about 20 people in Atlanta, Charlotte, Nashville, New Orleans, Northwest Arkansas, Raleigh, and Richmond. My debut book, The Vote Collectors, about the election fraud scandal that led to an overturned congressional race, was published by UNC Press' Ferris & Ferris in November 2021.My work has appeared in ESPN, POLITICO, Garden & Gun, the Guardian, Washingtonian magazine, and SB Nation Longform, along with many others. Stories I've written or edited have been picked up by the Nieman Storyboard, the New York Times, longform.org, and longreads.com.